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Layering On Fall

Ahhh, fall! My favorite season, my favorite colors, my favorite comfort foods, my very favorite temperatures! Bonfires, falling leaves, sweaters…welcome changes. Time to spruce up the house for Thanksgiving. I love the way this Trailing Jenny grew in this urn all summer, and I’m going to try my best to keep it around until time to decorate for Christmas, but it does need a little updating for fall, don’t you think?

In the same way that throwing on a cozy cardigan, a soft scarf, or a denim jacket can add the perfect touch of fall to your wardrobe, a few simple additions to what you already have can easily transition your home decor from summer to autumn without breaking the bank.

I started with the dining room table, replacing the summer place mats with a bronze paisley tablecloth I’ve had for six years. I promise I did press it, but by the time I got it to the table, it did not look ironed. The Southern Living fall cake stand that I’ve also had for years is the perfect color and textures for our dining space.

Now, on with the layering. Oil rubbed bronze charger plates I often use at Thanksgiving, and sometimes at Christmas.

And earthy colored dishes. Oh, and there is that simple burlap place mat left over from the set I made last year. I think one in the center under the cake stand will be sufficient this year. And you can also see that I added a few mini pumpkins to the arrangement on the cake stand. Saint grew a ton of those in the garden this year.

Next, more fun layering on whatever I can find in my stash.

Gold rimmed goblets I got in a box of junk at an auction last summer, some raffia crocheted napkin rings I bought at a garage sale-8 for a dollar, napkins I already had, a sparkly fern leaf, and odds and ends silk leaves to scatter. I threw in a few sprigs of the bittersweet we try to protect here on Redbud Ridge.

And now, the piece de resistance…

A little table runner of paper flowers. I made these from natural coffee filters I learned about here:

I made the banner from a wispy strip of cheesecloth, squares of leftover canvas from the drop cloth curtain update, burlap, and the one thing I actually purchased for this project…nothing says fall like plaid flannel. I bought the plaid ribbon at WalMart for a dollar. I kind of like last year’s mantel better, but this will be easier to dust. 🙂

Finally, I needed to layer up the outside a bit. I started with the door arrangement I had, added a dark brown burlappy bow for texture, and just stuck in some fall colored flowers and a bit of bittersweet.

I brought the wonderful birdcage Tiffany got me for Mother’s Day around from the deck and loaded it with Kale, and some of our garden harvest. Purple eggplant screams fall, doesn’t it? And a few more random veggies and some more bittersweet. Don’t you love it?

Behind it, I propped one of our corn stalks…we grew some a-maize-ing Indian Corn this year…get it? And threw a few dried grasses and cock’s comb from the garden into the summer planter. I’ll add a couple of mums, later, if I don’t find anything free in the fields between now and…next week.

And then I added some of our colorful corn to these iron candle holders.

So, there you have it. The scarves, sweaters, and jackets of home. I have several other “layers” planned but I’m waiting for Elle Belle to come help me with projects.